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Our local
governments have the legislative and regulatory power to make
major changes for recycling and other resource conservation
measures, but they don't have the political will or power to
do so until the activated citizens organize themselves and
request change. |
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If You Care About Recycling, We Need
You!
On three recent Saturdays, more than 100 people gathered
together at the new recycling facility to discuss the future
of how “trash” is handled in Boulder County. These people
were not government officials, recycling professionals, or
local trash haulers. They were your neighbors and they were
talking about…you! Sound like Big Brother? Relax, it was
only Big Do-Gooders having another EcoCycle Block Leader
gathering of the recycling faithful.
The
EcoCycle Block Leaders are an amazing bunch of volunteers,
and you’d be proud to have one as a neighbor. Perhaps you’re
lucky enough to already have one! After all, there are
nearly 800 of them scattered around the county doing their
subversive work of promoting environmental sustainability.
So what do you
suppose these Block Leaders had to say? Here’s a sampling of
the group opinions:
• Everyone wants to recycle more plastics.
• Recyclers should be rewarded financially for wasting less
than their neighbors.
• The public health problems from landfills need to be more
widely known.
• The different recycling systems around the County need
more uniformity.
• It should be easier to buy “environmental” products.
• Business and industry need to take more responsibility for
the waste they create.
• The “free market” alone will not protect our future |
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Do these
issues sound important to you? If so, then you are Block
Leader material, and we urge you to think about becoming
one. The time commitment is not that great, but the
potential benefits are. Why should you join? The single
biggest reason to join the Network is because YOU and your
voice are needed if any of the things listed above are going
to happen. Our local governments have the legislative and
regulatory power to make major changes for recycling and
other resource conservation measures, but they don’t have
the political will or power to do so until the “activated
citizens” organize themselves and request change. If a
polite request doesn’t work, then a polite demand might be
necessary, along with a gathering of a couple hundred people
down at City Hall some night when the City Council happens
to be meeting.
Think about it for a minute: if you were on City Council
(and we do hope you run some day!) how would you feel if
members of the public started calling you to ask you to
support a new recycling program? Your first thought might be
that it’s a good idea, but if there weren’t enough calls,
your thoughts might turn to the cost of the enterprise—and
get hung up there. Despite wanting to implement needed
change, most City Council members lose their interest if
they need to make major shifts in the way money is
allocated. It’s much easier to keep the status quo, where
decisions about municipal programs and policy are determined
by whoever on the City staff is most persuasive. This system
often excludes the public. The good news is that an active
public can inject just the right amount of pressure into the
process to tip the balance in favor of the programs and
policy that we’d like to see. Whether the issue is recycling
vs. garbage, potholes vs. bike paths, or new parks vs. new
staff, arguments about funds allocation can be won by a
concerned public that organizes themselves and gets
involved.
The EcoCycle Block Leaders are a special group of people
because they are willing to put some time into an issue they
believe in. But from my experience, most people I meet in
Boulder County are Block Leader material—people who advocate
recycling at church, work, home, everywhere they go, and
want to see recycling and waste recovery expand. Here’s an
idea…maybe every recycler should join the team! Imagine what
we could get accomplished if even 10% of the county’s
population were Block Leaders! That would be around 30,000
people making phone calls, writing letters to the editor,
attending public meetings, and talking to their friends and
neighbors. I could almost guarantee that not only would the
list mentioned above get taken care of in short order, but
all of us would have the time of our lives getting it done!
To learn more about the EcoCycle Block Leader Network (BLN),
call us at 303-444-6634, or go to
www.ecocycle.org,
and check out the different ways you can join in and
be part of the change. |
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